Air-heater.



PATENTED JULY 5, 1904.

N0. 764,00L I Will PERKINS. AIR HEATER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 18, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

' m xmmi UNITED STATES Patented July 5, 1904.

\VILLIS J. PERKINS, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

AIR-HEATER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 764,004, dated July 5,1904.

Application filed May 18, 1903. Serial No. 157,593. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVILLIs J PERKINS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Air-Heaters; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in air heaters, and moreparticularly to such heaters adapted to be placed in circuit with a pipefor conveying smoke from a furnace to a chimney; and its object is toprovide a simple and effective device the smoke-passages of which can bereadily opened and cleaned without disturbing the pipe connections asoccasion may require, to provide a cheap and convenient device, and toprovide the same with certain new and useful features, hereinafter morefully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

My invention consists, essentially, of a body portion divided by aseries of plates into alternate air and smoke flues, a breeching at eachend connected to the smoke-fines and provided with suitable openings andclosures for the same, whereby access may be readily had to the saidflues, inlet and exit pipes connected to the respective breechings,suitable inlet and exit pipes connected to the respective air-flues bysuitable distributing and collecting chambers, and in the combinationand arrangement of these elements, as hereinafter more fully described,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 isan isometrical perspective of a device embodying my invention; Fig. 2, alongitudinal vertical section of the same on the line 2 2 of Figs. 3 and4:; Fig. 3, a transverse vertical section of the same on the line 3 3 ofFig. 2, and Fig. 4 the same on the line 4 t of Fig. 2.

Like letters refer to like parts in all of the figures.

A represents the body of the device, consisting, essentially, of anouter case, preferably having the form of a parallelopiped and made ofsuitable material, preferably sheet metal,

and divided into numerous thin horizontal lines by plates of thinheat-conducting material, such as copper or steel, each alternate flue Abeing connected at each end to suitable breechings, through whichbreechings and alternate flues the smoke circulates, and the otheralternate fines, A, being connected at their respective ends to suitableair distributing and collecting chambers, through which chambers andflues the air to be heated is circulated. The smoke-fines are preferablyopen at the ends and attached to the respective ends ofthe body A, andinclosing the open ends of said smoke-fines are breechings B and D.These breechings are provided with suitable openings C and E, having anysuitable closures which may be readily opened for the purpose ofcleaning the smoke-fines as occasion may require without disturbing thepipe connections or other parts of the structure. The opening C is largeenough to be opposite the ends of all of the smoke-fines, and throughthis opening any suitable instru- 'ment may be inserted into all of thesmokeflues for cleaning the same. The opening E is placed near thebottom of the breeching D for convenient removal of the materialdischarged from the smoke-fines when they are cleaned.

G is 'a pipe attached to the breeching D and extending to any suitablechimney.

B is a suitable downward extension of the bottom of the breeching B,whereby a pipe F may be connected 'to the breeching below the door C,which pipe at the other end is connected to any convenient furnaceprovided with the usual dampers and other appliances for regulating thedraft. By raising the body of the device above the level of the pipe inthe circuit of which it is inserted the smoke having a tendency to risewill tend to be pocketed or retained in the device, and thus moreeffectively part with its heat. Also by this construction I am'able togain access to the smoke-fines without detaching any of the pipeconnections.

To properly supply the air to be heated to the alternate flues A, adistributing-chamber H extends. across the bottom of the body A at oneend, preferably adjacent to the breeching D, and thence upward at eachside, as at H, to the partitions Q, whereby the incoming air isdistributed to suitable ports L, opening into the lower flues A, andpassing to the other end 01 the said fines is discharged through theports O into transfer-chambers N. The air thence passes upward in thesetransfer-chambers and enters the upper series of air-fines through theports P, and, passing through said flues to their opposite ends, isdischarged through the ports M into an upper collecting-chamber 1,extending across the body A and thence downward at each side of thesame, as at I, to the partitions Q. From this chamber the heated airescapes to any suitable register or room through a pipe K. The tendencyof the air to rise when heated maintains the described circulationthrough the device and discharges the hot air into any convenient upperroom, to which the pipe K may be extended either vertically orotherwise, as occasion requires.

J is a pipe for the incoming cold air,extend ing from thedistributing-chamber H to any suitable air-supply. The air thustraverses horizontally the entire length of the body A through the lowerfines, thence passes to the upper flues, and back again the entirelength of the said body, being exposed in thin layers to plates whichare heated by exposure to the smoke and hot gases passing between themfrom the furnace to the chimney.

It will also be seen that the device is cheaply constructed of sheetmetal, can be interposed between any furnace and the chimney, can bereadily cleaned from accumulated soot and ashes without disturbing ortaking down any of the connections, and exposes a very large amount ofheating-surface within small compass and does not materially interferewith the draft of the chimney. By making the body of different lengthsthe capacity may be varied at pleasure, and, if desirable, more than oneof these heaters may be placed in a smokepipe and the hot air conveyedto any rooms either directly or diagonally above the level of theheater. By conveying the air in a direction opposite to that of thesmoke the greatest difference of temperature is maintained at theopposite sides of the plates, and thus the greatest eiiiciency secured.The hotter portions also tend to rise, and thus the hottest air andhottest smoke are in the upper fines, and this tends also to aid theefficiency. So, also, by the horizontal flat flues the hottest smokerises against the under side of the upper flue-plate and the coolest airin the flue above falls upon the upper side of the same, thus increasingits eflieiency over a vertical flue. Itis also obvious that variousmodifications of structure may be adopted without departing from myinvention. Ido not, therefore, limit myself to the precise constructionshown and described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of a hollow body, a series of plates in the same andspaced apart to form flues, each alternate flue having end openings andthe remaining flues having side openings near each end thereof,breechings inclosing the end openings, smoke-pipes opening into thebreechings, air-chambers inclosing the side openings, partitions in oneof said air-chambers, and air-pipes connected to said air-chamber at therespective sides of the said partition.

2. The combination of a hollow body divided into a series of thin fluesby means of plates spaced apart, said body having openings into therespective ends of each alternate flue, and also having openings intothe side of the other alternate lines, and near the respective-ends ofeach of said fiues, breechings opposite the end openings and havingopenings for cleaning the lines, removable closures for said openings,smoke-pipes connected to the breechings, side chambers opposite the sideopenings, and air-pipes connected to the side chambers.

3. The combination of a hollow body having openings in its ends, andopenings in its sides near its respective ends and arranged in alternateplanes, a series of plates in said body and spaced apart to form aseries of lines alternately opposite to the respective end and sideopenings, breechings opposite the end openings and provided withopenings for cleaning the Hues, removable closures for'saidopenings,air-chambers opposite the side openings, and air-pipesconnected to the air-chambers.

4:. The combination of a hollow body,having openings in its ends, andopenings in its sides near its respective ends, said end and sideopenings being arranged in alternate l1orizontal planes, breechingsopposite the end openings and extending below the same, and providedwith openings, removable closures for said openings, smoke-pipesattached to the downward extensions of said breechings, airchambersopposite the side openings, and airpipes connected to said chambers.

5. The combination of a hollow bodyhaving a series of end openings, andalso having a series of side openings near its respective ends, saidside and end openings being in alternate vertical planes, a series ofhorizontal plates spaced apart and forming fines alternately oppositethe said side and end openings, breechings opposite the end openings andextending below the same, smoke-pipes connected to the lower part ofsaid breeching, one of said breechings having an opening opposite saidend openings, and the other breeching having an opening in its lowerpart, removable closures for said openings, air-chambers opposite theside openings, and air-pipes connected to said chambers.

6. The combination of a hollow body having a series of end openings, andalso having a series of side openings near each end, a series of platesspaced apart and separating the end openings from the side openings andforming a series of lines alternately opposite the end openings and sideopenings, breechings opposite the end openings, smoke-pipes opening intothe breechings, a distributing-chamber and a collecting-chamber at oneend of the body and respectively opposite a part of the side openings,and a transfer-chamber opposite all of the side openings at the otherend of the body, and air-pipes opening into the distributing andcollecting chambers.

7. The combination of a rectangular hollow body having end openings, andalso having side openings near each end, said side and end openingsbeing arranged in alternate vertical planes, horizontal plates betweenthe planes of the said end and side openings, and dividing the interiorof the body into superposed fines alternately opposite the respectiveend and end and opposite all of the adjacent side open-' ings, acollecting-chamber at the same end as the distributing-chamber andopposite the remaining side openings, and air-pipes connected to thedistributing and collecting chambers. In testimony whereof I afi ix mysignature in presence of two Witnesses.

WILLIS J. PERKINS. Witnesses:

J. W. BROWN, L. H. EVARTS.

